Monfils ready to rival Murray in courting glory
By Neil Harman
The French prodigy has an aggressive approach that has catapulted him into the world's top 25

GAËL MONFILS was asked if he had spotted a weakness in Roger Federer’s game during their set-to in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha on Sunday. “Speak up,” Andy Roddick chipped in. Monfils, smiling shyly, whispered “maybe a leetle beet”, but was unwilling to expand in a public forum.

Monfils, a 19-year-old of Guadeloupe/Martinique stock, is the French rookie in the field for the AAMI Classic at Kooyong, the annual warm-up for the Australian Open that, this year, contains five of the world’s top ten, including Federer and Roddick. Monfils was the high riser inside the top 30 this week, climbing to No 25 in the Indesit ATP world rankings.

Suggesting that he is France’s answer to Andy Murray does both men a disservice, but when the competition is scoured for players challenging Murray to break through into the hierarchy, Monfils has to be accorded a prime place.

He is a year farther down the road of experience than Murray, he has won his first tournament — in Sopot, Poland, last August — and has reached two further finals with risk-takingly ferocious tennis, in contrast to the web-spinning that ensnares so many of Murray’s opponents. Murray will fascinate a crowd, Monfils will leave them breathless.

It is appropriate that a 6ft 3in player, who is all artistic arms and legs and covers the court like a basketball pro, draws his inspiration from Arthur Ashe and that his style is reminiscent of Yannick Noah, both of whom dared to be unconventional and earned the admiration of the world for it.

There is some way to go before Monfils can emulate either of those men and at the introductory rites at Kooyong yesterday — Monfils was playing Roddick in the second of the first day’s round-robin matches — he was seated at one end of the table while Federer held court in the middle. But you could see that Monfils was listening to every word and catching every nuance.

As Thierry Champion, his coach, said: “For Gaël to play Federer in the final was just perfect for him. Before the start of the tournament, he was nervous, as nervous as I had ever seen him, especially as he practised for six weeks in the winter much better than last year. Then he wins four matches, not playing his best tennis, but winning. And so he plays Federer. It showed him so much. I can tell him what his weaknesses may be, but when Federer shows you, it means something more. When Federer started to use his slice, Gaël did not know how to respond.”

Monfils led 5-3 in the second set tie-break before Federer unleashed four successive winners in less than a minute. Match over.

But there is so much to work on between the partnership of Champion, a French Open quarter-finalist in 1990, and Rémi Barbarin, fitness trainer for the French Federation on permanent secondment to Monfils.

Champion could not be more enthused about what may lie in store. “When you talk about a heart, he has a heart this size,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “He gives so much of himself on the court, the people love him for it. His way of seeing tennis is different, he has his own culture.

“He is influenced very much by Yannick. I rang him two weeks ago — he was playing video games as usual — and told him he was missing a documentary about Yannick’s life on TV. Gaël immediately watched it and next day he was very emotional. When we first started together 18 months ago, he wanted to be the best within a month. I said we should give it three years.

“Last year he didn’t do well in the grand slams — our aim is to reach the second week of one of them this year. The ranking will take care of itself. I think guys like Gaël and Murray will be top 20. They do not fear but have a great respect for each other’s talents. And they are both people to believe. Gaël never tells a lie; even when he does something I have told him he shouldn’t, he tells me the next day.”

And there is no avoiding the truth in the promise that is Gaël Monfils.

Not exactly an article, but a news for sure.
Gael got the prize for the best newcomer in 2005. Surely deserved because in 2005 he performed way better than other nominated - Baghdatis, Murray and Wawrinka

(anyway Baghdatis and Wawrinka weren't really newcomers ) but I feared Marcos could be biased by AO final... fortunately he wasn't, and now Gael you must win some slams to win "player of the year" and "most improved player of the year".

he said that he play good but he is still stressed and put pressure on himself.He recognises that he has to be more relax,that he will work on it.He is disappointed about his loss but he stay positive.He wants to climb to the top20.

Well lets hope this week will be more successful for him, perhaps more than one win.

can anyone translate this into english or spanish?
i dont speak french, thanks!!!

- Do you have a nickname?
La Monf.
- Your biggest dream in tennis?
To be number 1 in the world.
- Your best memory in tennis?
There are too many!
- The worst one?
I don't have any.
- Your biggest challenge?
To become number 1 in the world.
- Your biggest fear?
I don't have any.
- If you weren't a tennis player...
I would have loved to be a basket-ball player.
- What do you prefer in being a tennis player (travel, etc.)?
I like everything!
- What do you dislike?
Nothing
- Your favourite meal?
The cooking from the Antilles.
- Your favourite drink?
Fanta.
- Your favourite actor?
Denzel Washington.
- Your favourite band?
The Beatles! Just kidding. Rap & RNB.
- Your favourite car?
MacLaren.
- The best place for holiday?
The Antilles.
- Your favourite tournaments?
All of them, I don't prefer one in particular.
- Your main hobby apart from tennis?
I love to play basket-ball.
- What's the most precious thing in your life?
My parents, my brother and my friends.

During the past three years, Monfils has become well known on the worldwide tennis circuit as an exciting player who fights for every point. In 2004, he was the #1 ranked junior in the world winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, for three of the four Grand Slam events. Later that year, he made his debut on the ATP circuit in Metz where he reached the quarterfinals. In 2005, he won his first ATP title in Sopot and was named the ATP's "Most Improved Player" of the season. In 2006, he reached the second final of his career in Doha, losing to world #1 Roger Federer. He then reached the semi-finals of the Rome Masters Series and advanced to the fourth round in Paris at Roland Garros.

"Gael is not only a great tennis player and a superb athlete, but he has a fresh personality that makes him popular with players and fans," said Forbes. "IMG is extremely happy to be managing him." IMG executives in the US, UK and France will be involved in the global campaign for Monfils.

"I am enjoying my tennis career and am happy to be part of the IMG team," Monfils adds. "With their expertise and global reach, I am confident they will find the right off-court career opportunities for me - while I focus on winning matches. I look forward to working with them"

Monfils' next Grand Slam will be the US Open beginning August 28 in New York. He will celebrate his 20th birthday at the tournament on September 1. A native of Paris, Monfils is a 6'4" right-hander. He is currently ranked #29 in the world by the ATP. He finished 2005 as the #3 French player. His favorite player is Arthur Ashe, and the NBA fan says he would play basketball if not a professional tennis player.

About IMG

IMG is the world's premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG is a diversified global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports & Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300 people in 30 countries. Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.IMG Sports & Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football, rugby, cricket, motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In addition, IMG Academies are the world's largest and most advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering world-class sports training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult and professional athletes each year.IMG Media, which includes our content production subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) and Tiger Aspect Productions (TAP), is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of traditional and new media content and services, with Internet, broadband and mobile expertise, transforming how audiences access and interact with content.IMG Media produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children's content annually, over multiple platforms across 200 countries, including award-winning television and radio programming. It also represents the broadcast rights to many of the world's premier sporting events and has the world's biggest sports archive with more than 200,000 hours of footage.